characters were made as simple as possible so that they might be written
quickly, and in the third many of them lost their picture form
altogether and became mere symbols. Egyptian writing was believed to
have been invented by the god Tehuti, or Thoth, and as this god was
thought to be a form of the mind and intellect and wisdom of the God who
created the heavens and the earth, the picture characters, or
hieroglyphs as they are called, were held to be holy, or divine, or
sacred. Certain religious texts were thought to possess special virtue
when written in hieroglyphs, and the chapters and sections of books that
were considered to have been composed by Thoth himself were believed to
possess very great power, and to be of the utmost benefit to the dead
when they were written out for them in hieroglyphs, and buried with them
in their coffins. Thoth also invented the science of numbers, and as he
fixed the courses of the sun, moon, and stars, and ordered the seasons,
he was thought to be the first astronomer. He was the lord of wisdom,
and the possessor of all knowledge, both heavenly and earthly, divine
and human; and he was the author of every attempt made by man to draw,
paint, and carve. As the lord and maker of books, and as the skilled
scribe, he was the clerk of the gods, and kept the registers wherein the
deeds of men were written down. The deep knowledge of Thoth enabled him
to find out the truth at all times, and this ability caused the
Egyptians to assign to him the position of Chief Judge of the dead. A
very ancient legend states that Thoth acted in this capacity in the
great trial that took place in heaven when Osiris was accused of certain
crimes by his twin-brother Set, the god of evil. Thoth examined the
evidence, and proved to the gods that the charges made by Set were
untrue, and that Osiris had spoken the truth and that Set was a liar.
For this reason every Egyptian prayed that Thoth might act for him as he
did for Osiris, and that on the day of the Great Judgment Thoth might
preside over the weighing of his heart in the Balance. All the important